Method and apparatus for sharing presentation data and annotation

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for sharing presentation data, interactions, and annotation information between devices. The method includes: converting the presentation data into at least one image; transmitting the at least one image to the second device; displaying an image from among the at least one image on a screen of the first device, and transmitting image identification information about the displayed image to the second device; adding annotation data to the displayed image, based on a user input; and transmitting annotation information about the annotation data to the second device. The second device displays an image corresponding to the image identification information on a screen of the second device based on the image identification information, and the second device displays the annotation information on the image displayed on the screen of the second device the annotation information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/869,655, filedJan. 12, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/712,946, filed Sep. 22, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/470,050, filed Mar. 27, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No.9,781,179, issued on Oct. 3, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/949,176, filed Nov. 23, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No.9,609,033, issued Mar. 28, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/859,282, filed Apr. 9, 2013, which claimspriority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0043899, filed onApr. 26, 2012, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein in their entirety byreference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The present inventive concept relates to a method and apparatus forallowing a plurality of users to share presentation data between theirdevices, and more particularly, to sharing a document to be used in apresentation and synchronizing additional records, e.g., an annotationand memo, which a user inputs in relation to the document, and aninteraction, e.g., a page change, with the document.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, a method of sharing a presentation is classifiedaccording to an instructor and students or according to a host andparticipants. Although a presentation is performed bi-directionally,there are restrictions to sharing the presentation in terms of varioususabilities and limited accessibility to a plurality of users.Furthermore, it is inconvenient to share a large amount of presentationmaterials and it is difficult to obtain and manage annotation historiesabout the presentation materials.

As types of smart devices have diversified and a frequency of usethereof has increased, a number of users who desire to display variouscontents on screens of their smart devices has increased. Also, anincreasing number of users tend to share contents displayed on theirsmart devices with other users. Furthermore, an increasing number ofusers tend to share interactions occurring in, for example, meetings,conferences, or classrooms, in an easy and intuitive manner.

SUMMARY

The present inventive concept involves providing appropriate userexperiences to a user who uses a device and participates in a meeting ora discussion with a plurality of other users. A paperless office may beestablished by converting conference materials into an image andimmediately transmitting and sharing the image, and sharing informationto be added during a conference, e.g., a memo, an annotation, etc.Furthermore, a detailed record about the conference may be preservedwithout having to take additional minutes.

The present inventive concept also provides smart synchronization forsynchronizing annotation information added during a conference even if auser participates late in the conference.

According to an aspect of the present inventive concept, there isprovided a method, performed by a first device, of sharing presentationdata with a second device, the method including: converting thepresentation data into at least one image; transmitting the at least oneimage to the second device; displaying an image from among the at leastone image on a screen of the first device, and transmitting imageidentification information about the displayed image to the seconddevice; adding annotation data to the displayed image, based on a userinput; and transmitting annotation information about the annotation datato the second device, wherein the second device displays an imagecorresponding to the image identification information on a screen of thesecond device based on the image identification information, and thesecond device displays the annotation information on the image displayedon the screen of the second device based on the annotation information.

The method may further include transmitting image identificationinformation about the switched image to the second device, when theimage displayed on the screen of the first device is switched to anotherimage, wherein the second device displays an image corresponding to theimage identification information about the switched image on the screenof the second device based on the image identification information aboutthe switched image.

The method may further include: receiving annotation informationgenerated by the second device from the second device; and displayingannotation data included in the received annotation information on theimage displayed on the screen of the first device.

The transmitting annotation information to the second device may includeif a record mode of the first device is a private memo mode, preventingthe annotation information from being transmitted to the second device,and if the record mode of the first device is a public writing mode,transmitting the annotation information to the second device.

According to another aspect of the present inventive concept, there isprovided a method, performed by a second device, of sharing presentationdata with a first device, the method may include: receiving presentationdata converted into at least one image, and image identificationinformation about an image displayed on a screen of the first device,from the first device; displaying, from among the at least one image, animage corresponding to the image identification information on a screenof the second device; receiving annotation information from the firstdevice; and displaying annotation data on the image displayed on thescreen of the second device, based on the received annotationinformation, wherein the received annotation information includesannotation data added to the image displayed on the screen of the firstdevice, based on a user input of the first device.

The method may further include: receiving switched image identificationinformation from the first device; and display an image corresponding tothe switched image identification information on the screen of thesecond device, wherein the switched image identification informationidentifies an image switched from the image displayed on the firstdevice.

The displaying annotation data may include displaying only theannotation data based on a user input of the second device when a viewmode of the second device is a private view mode, and displaying theannotation data based on the user input of the second device togetherwith the annotation data based on the annotation information receivedfrom the first device when the view mode of the second device is apublic view mode.

When the view mode of the second device is a user view mode, displayingthe annotation data may include in the annotation information receivedfrom the first device, according to a setting of the user view mode.

The displaying an image corresponding to the switched imageidentification information on the screen of the second device mayinclude switching the image displayed on the screen of the second imageto another image, based on the switched image identification informationreceived from the first device, when the second device is in a pagenon-synchronization mode, and switching the image displayed on thescreen of the second image to another image, based on a user input ofthe second device, when the second device is in a page synchronizationmode.

According to still another aspect of the present inventive concept,there is provided a first device for sharing presentation data with asecond device, the first device including: a data conversion unit whichconverts presentation data into at least one image; a display unit whichdisplays an image from among the at least one image on a screen of thefirst device; an input interface which receives annotation data; aninformation processor which generates image identification informationabout the displayed image and annotation information including theannotation data; and a communication unit which transmits the at leastone image, the image identification information, and the annotationinformation to the second device, wherein an image corresponding to theimage identification information is displayed on a screen of the seconddevice, and the second device displays the annotation information on theimage displayed on the screen of the second device based on theannotation information.

According to yet another aspect of the present inventive concept, thereis provided a second device for sharing presentation data with a firstdevice, the second device including: a communication unit which receivesat least one image, image identification information about an imagedisplayed on a screen of the first device, and annotation information,from the first device; a display unit which displays an image, fromamong the at least one image, corresponding to the image identificationinformation on a screen of the second device, and displays annotationdata on the image displayed on the screen of the second device, whereinthe received annotation information includes annotation data added tothe image displayed on the screen of the first device, based on a userinput of the first device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the present inventiveconcept will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplaryembodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a presentation data sharing systemaccording to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates a screen image for setting up a meeting room,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are block diagrams illustrating methods of sharingpresentation data, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates a method of converting presentation data into animage when the presentation data includes a main content, and scripts orannotation, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates a method of sharing annotation information betweendevices of a system, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates a method of controlling synchronization or displayingof annotation data, based on a mode, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating page synchronization according toan exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a presentation data sharing systemaccording to another exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a host device according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a participant device according to an eexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method of transmitting informationfor synchronizing presentation data, annotation data, and a displayedpage to a participant device from a host device, according to anexemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method of synchronizing aparticipant device with a host device, based on information receivedfrom the host device, according to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a presentation data sharing systemaccording to an exemplary embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, a firstdevice 110 acts as a host device. Presentation data displayed on thefirst device 110 is transmitted to a plurality of devices included inthe presentation data sharing system, e.g., a second device 120, a thirddevice 130, and an Nth device 190. The presentation data having the sameformat as that of the first device 110 may be directly transmitted toanother device, or may be converted to another format, e.g., an imageformat or a pdf file format, and then transmitted to another device.

The same content is displayed on the screens of the plurality of thedevices included in the presentation data sharing system unlessparticular circumstances occur. In detail, the screens of all theplurality of devices are synchronized according to the content displayedon the first device 110 acting as the host device but content displayedon another device that does not act as the host device may be displayedon the screens of the other devices through an additional settingoperation. Generally, in the present inventive concept, the first device110 means the host device. For example, if during a conference, a userof the third device 130 has some pertinent material, then a referencedevice synchronized with the first device 110 or a host of theconference may be requested to be switched from the first device 110 tothe third device 130. In other words, the third device 130 may transmita request to switch the reference device to the host device, and thereference device may be switched when the host device accepts therequest. Inversely, the first device 110 may transmit this request tothe third device 130, and the reference device may be switched when thethird device 130 accepts the request. However, the present inventiveconcept is not limited to the above methods and any of other variousmethods may be used.

A user of the host device may add additional records in various formatsto a displayed screen image. For example, particular content may beunderlined or an annotation may be inserted into the displayed screenimage. Otherwise, an additional diagram may be inserted into orparticular content may be deleted from the displayed screen image. Suchvarious edited items mentioned above may be synchronized with the otherdevices of the presentation data sharing system so that they are alsodisplayed on the screens of the other devices. Hereinafter, suchadditional records are referred to as ‘annotation data’.

In detail, when such an additional record is input to a device by usinga user input interface, e.g., a keypad, a touchpad, a stylus, or anS-pen, annotation information including annotation data is generated.The annotation information is transmitted to the other devices of thepresentation data sharing system. Each of the other devices receivingthe annotation information displays the annotation data, e.g.,underlines, memos, annotations, or the like, on the screen thereof,based on the annotation information. If the specifications of a deviceare not the same as those of the host device, the annotation data may besynchronized through a transformation process, e.g., resizing or a colorchange.

The user of the host device may modify content displayed on the screenthereof. For example, when presentation data consists of several pages,a current page may be switched to a subsequent page, a preceding page,or a page corresponding to a desired page number. Hereinafter, a pagemay be understood as an image. A displayed image may be expanded ormoved in a desired direction. The host device receiving such a commandvia a user input interface transmits information for performing anoperation corresponding to the command, to another device. For example,when a page change is performed, identification (ID) informationindicating a current page may be transmitted. Such image ID informationmay be referred to as ‘user interaction information’. A device receivingthe user interaction information displays a page corresponding to theuser interaction information.

The presentation data sharing system performing the above operationsdescribed above with reference to FIG. 1 does not need a conventionalserver. For example, the above operations may be performed via theinternet, an intranet, Wi-Fi, or a Wibro communication network. Anydevice capable of receiving and transmitting data via a communicationnetwork may be applied to a third-generation (3G) or fourth-generation(4G) communication environment.

The present inventive concept is available to a system including smartdevices. Examples of smart devices include smart phones, tablets,personal computers (PCs), and smart televisions (TVs) having variousscreen resolutions. The host device may be a general PC but the second,third, and/or Nth device may be smart devices or notebook computers(e.g., lap-top computers). A system according to an exemplary embodimentmay be applied to any device capable of using a network and is notlimited to the above description.

FIG. 2 illustrates a screen image for establishing a meeting room,according to an embodiment. A user may select a ‘+ New Meeting Room’ 210to set up a new meeting room. The established meeting room may havevarious attributes according to a user setting. The meeting room may beopen to all devices that are accessible to the meeting room or may beopen to a limited number of devices by setting a password. If a numberof devices that may participate in the meeting room is fixed and anumber of devices that participate in the meeting room reaches the fixednumber of devices, then other devices may be prevented fromparticipating in the meeting room or the meeting room may not appear inthe screen image of FIG. 2. When a user sets up a new meeting room asdescribed above, a device of the user may act as a host device.

FIG. 2 illustrates ‘Math Studies’ 220, ‘Refresh’ 230, and ‘Class 214’240 as already setup meeting rooms. A device that sets up a meeting roomand other devices that participate in the meeting room may form apresentation data sharing system according to an exemplary embodiment asillustrated in FIG. 1.

An interface as described above with reference to FIG. 2 may be providedusing an operating system of a device or an application. Otherwise, insome cases, a process of setting up and participating in a meeting roommay be omitted. For example, when a user device operates in apredetermined mode, a system that automatically senses the host deviceand synchronizes presentation materials, annotation data, andinteractions with the host device may be automatically set up. Thismethod may be available to a conference that is held in an independentspace. Also, even if participants participating in a meeting room join aconference or a lecture late, and thus do not participate from the startof the conference or the lecture, the participants may receive andsynchronize all annotation information generated starting from the startof the conference or the lecture.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are block diagrams illustrating a method of sharingpresentation data, according to an exemplary embodiment. In the presentdisclosure, the presentation data is not limited to data in apresentation format, e.g., a PowerPoint or Keynote format. Examples ofthe presentation data may include various types of document files, webpages, and image files. If a lecture is conducted through only writingon a blackboard or blank page of host device, the presentation data maybe a blank image to which annotation data may be applied.

Specifically, FIG. 3A illustrates a case where a first device 110directly transmits presentation data to a second device 120. FIG. 3Billustrates a case where a first device 110 converts presentation datato a desired format and then transmits the presentation data to a seconddevice 120. The method of FIG. 3A is available when the types of alldevices included in a system are the same or when all the devices maysupport the format of the presentation data to be shared. Also, themethod of FIG. 3A is available in a network environment appropriate fortransmitting the amount of the presentation data. In general,presentation data cannot be used in each device before transmission ofthe presentation data ends when the presentation data is not convertedand is directly transmitted. However, when the presentation data isconverted to image files and is then transmitted, the image files may besequentially displayed in the order that the image files aretransmitted, before all the presentation data is transmitted. Thus, apiece of data corresponding to the start of material of a conference maybe first transmitted and then the other pieces of the data may betransmitted during the conference.

However, if the types of the devices included in the system are the sameor if the types of the devices are different from one another butsupport the presentation data, then the method of FIG. 3A may not bealways guaranteed. Since most devices support image files, the firstdevice 110 may convert presentation data to an image file format andthen transmit the presentation data to the second device 120 in thiscase.

Any of various methods may be performed to convert presentation data toan image file format. Basically, a piece of presentation datacorresponding to one page may be converted into one image. Otherwise, apiece of the presentation data corresponding to two pages may beconverted into one image. Such a ratio of transformation may bedetermined in consideration of a resolution of the presentation data anda resolution of a device. For example, when a ratio between the widthand height of the presentation data is 1:1 and a ratio between the widthand height of the device is 2:1, it may be appropriate to convert apiece of the presentation data corresponding to two pages into oneimage.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method of converting presentation data into animage when the presentation data includes main contents, and scripts orannotation, according to an exemplary embodiment. A host of a conferenceor a speaker who will present a particular topic may prepare not onlycontents to be presented to participants but also scripts or memos. Inthis case, the presentation data includes main contents that all theparticipants can view, and script contents that only a user of a hostdevice can view.

A presentation file 410, for example a PowerPoint file, may include maincontents 412, script 414, and a slide list 416. When converting thepresentation file 410 into an image and transmitting the image to otherdevices, the host device may convert only content of the main contents412 into an image and transmit the image to the other devices.

When the presentation data is a general document file 420, the user mayadd contents corresponding to script by using annotations or memos. Inthis case, when the presentation file 410 is converted into an image andthe image is transmitted to the other devices, the host device mayconvert only the content of the main contents 422 into an image andtransmit the image to the other devices, and may display contentcorresponding to script 424 on only the host device.

The image converted from the presentation data may be managed in unitsof pages. Page information may be image ID information. For example,when the page information is ‘3’, an image having the image IDinformation of ‘3’ may be displayed. Page synchronization may beperformed by displaying an image having the same image ID information asthat of an image displayed on the host device, on all devices of asystem, as will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 7.

The devices of the system may have different resolutions. For example,referring to FIG. 1, the first device 110 may have a resolution of1024×768, the second device 120 may have a resolution of 960×480, andthe third device 130 may have a resolution of 800×600. An imageconverted from presentation data according to the first device 110acting as a host device may not be appropriately displayed on anotherdevice. When receiving an image generated by the first device 110, eachof the devices of the system may resize the image according to aresolution thereof. Otherwise, the first device 110 may receiveinformation about resolutions of the devices of the system, convert thepresentation data into images having sizes that may be respectively andappropriately displayed on the devices, based on the receivedinformation, and then transmit the images to the devices.

FIG. 5 illustrates a method of sharing annotation information betweendevices of a system, according to an exemplary embodiment. In thepresent disclosure, examples of annotation data may include all datathat may be displayed on a device via a user interface, e.g.,underlines, highlights, annotation, diagrams, charts, memo like notes,hereinafter “notes,” content deletion, and the like. For example, when auser of the first device 110 of FIG. 1 desires to focus on a particularportion of presented material in presentation data displayed on thefirst device 110, via a user input interface, the first device 110generates annotation information, based on a command input by the userinput interface. The annotation information is transmitted to all thedevices of the system, including the second device 120 of FIG. 1. Then,the second device 120 may display the annotation data, based on theannotation information, thereby realizing ‘smart synchronization (SmartSync)’.

The annotation information may have any of various types. For example,when a focus is to be on a particular region, image information used tofocus on the particular region, e.g., a color, thickness, length,transparency, etc., may be transmitted to another device. In order towrite a memo by separately extracting a text of the particular region inthe form of a note, the annotation information may be generated usinginformation and text data needed to display the note. When the firstdevice 110 selects a particular diagram or chart, information about thediagram or chart may be generated as the annotation information and thenbe transmitted to another device. Examples of the annotation informationmay further include other information needed to appropriately displaythe annotation data on a device. For example, the annotation informationmay be information about device specifications, including page or imageID information and device resolution, or information about a time whenor an order in which the annotation data is input. Also, the annotationinformation may include image ID information of the first device 110that generates the annotation information.

If the types of the devices of the system are the same or the userinterface for inputting the annotation data is compatible with anoperating system or an application, the annotation information may beinformation about an input command. For example, when the first device110 adds an annotation, the first device 110 does not generateinformation about the annotation in the form of an image and transmitthe image to the second device 120 but may transmit information, whichis input when the first device 110 adds the annotation, i.e., the inputcommand, to the second device 120. The second device 120 may display theannotation on the screen of the second device 120, in the same mannerthat the annotation has input in the first device 110, based on theinformation about the annotation data, i.e., the input command.

If the types of the devices of the system are not the same, the devicesof the system may have different resolutions. The size of the annotationdata, e.g., an annotation, which is made according to the first device110 acting as the host device, may be too large or small to be directlydisplayed on the second device 120. Thus, when the annotationinformation is generated based on collected device information, eventhough the annotation data is displayed other devices having differentresolution from the first device 110, then annotation information may begenerated to correspond to the annotation data displayed on the firstdevice 110. Otherwise, when the second device 120 receives theannotation information from the first device 110, the second device 120may reconstruct the annotation data, for example, according to theresolution thereof, through resizing to be appropriately displayed onthe second device 120. Here, “appropriately” means that the presentationdata and annotation data displayed on the first device 110 are displayedon the second device 120 maintaining the arrangement of all the itemsdisplayed in the first device 110.

The annotation information may include information about a point of timewhen each piece of the annotation data is input. The annotation data maybe stored according to a time order (history) by using record timeinformation. Also, the annotation data may be sequentially canceled orre-input. Each piece of the annotation data may be individually managedbased on the record time information, and users of the devices of thesystem may selectively display or store a portion of the annotation databeing smart-synchronized with the host device.

The location of the displayed annotation data may be adjusted accordingto user input. In particular, if the annotation data is an added note orchart that does not focus on a particular text or region, the locationof the displayed annotation data may be adjusted according to a userpreference.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method of controlling synchronization or displayingof annotation data, based on a mode, according to an exemplaryembodiment. A menu for annotation data synchronization and/or annotationdata display mode change, i.e., an annotation data setting menu 620, maybe located on a region of a screen 610 of a device that displayspresentation data. An interface for setting a record mode 622 and aninterface for setting a view mode 624 may be located in an upper regionand a lower region of the annotation data setting menu 620,respectively.

The record mode 622 will now be described. When the record mode 622indicates a private memo, annotation data that a user inputs isdisplayed only on a target device. In other words, the annotationinformation is not transmitted to other devices. However, annotationinformation including record time information which indicates the timethe annotation is input for cancellation/re-input of the annotation datamay be generated in this case. When the record mode 622 indicates publicwriting, the target device generates annotation information andtransmits the annotation information to the other devices, based on userinput. Each of the devices that receive the annotation informationdisplays annotation data on a screen thereof, based on the receivedannotation information. In other words, the public writing means a statein which smart synchronization is activated.

The view mode 624 will now be described. If the view mode 624 indicatesa public view, all synchronized annotation data is displayed. Annotationdata of all devices that is input when the record mode 622 indicatespublic writing, is displayed. However, when the view mode 624 indicatesa private view, only annotation data input from an input interface of atarget device is displayed. That is, annotation data based on annotationinformation received from other devices is not displayed.

The current exemplary embodiment has been described with respect to aparticular device of or all devices of a system, but may be performed inunits of devices. For example, the record mode 622 may be set in unitsof devices. A user of a particular device may designate a device thatmay receive annotation information that the user inputs. Also, in thecase of the view mode 624, a user of a particular device may viewannotation data of only a desired device. For example, when a conferenceis conducted according to an exemplary embodiment, a device of a speakeror an important participant may be designated to selectively viewannotation data of the designated device. As another example, a lecturemay be delivered using a smart blackboard, according to an exemplaryembodiment. In this case, a host device (e.g., a device of a professor)may receive a request to synchronize annotation data of a particulardevice (e.g., a device of a student) included in the system, from theparticular device. Otherwise, a particular device may be designated andannotation data of the designated device may be synchronized.Optionally, all pieces of annotation data may be synchronized, and maybe synchronized from when a request for the synchronization is receivedor device designation is performed until the request or devicedesignation is canceled. When the host device accepts the request or adevice is designated, annotation data received from this device issynchronized with all the devices of the system.

Such annotation data may be stored according to any of various methods.Each piece of annotation data may be separately stored together withrecord time information. Otherwise, annotation data, e.g., a memo,annotations, or underlines of each page, may be stored in the form of animage. The annotation data in the form of an image may be separatelystored in such a manner that a background image thereof may betransparent. Otherwise, a state in which an image converted frompresentation data and annotation data are combined together may bestored in the form of an image. Otherwise, presentation data may bestored in such a manner that corresponding annotation data may be addedto each page of presentation data that is not converted into an image.Such an image and presentation data may be stored in a storage space ofa device, an additional storage medium, a server, a file cloud, etc.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating page synchronization according toan exemplary embodiment. Presentation data may be converted into imagesand may then be managed in units of pages. Page information may be imageID information. When a seventh page is displayed on a first device 110which is a host device, a first device 110 transmits image IDinformation corresponding to the seventh page to each of devices. Eachof the devices synchronizes a page corresponding to the received imageID information.

Page synchronization may be activated or deactivated according to adevice setting. For example, when in a page synchronization mode, athird device 130 sets page synchronization to be ‘OFF’, a currentlydisplayed page of the third device 130 is not changed and is maintainedeven though a currently displayed page of the first device 110, actingas a host device, are changed to some different page. The other devices,the page synchronizations of which are set to be ‘ON’, display thechanged page displayed on the first device 110.

A process of smart-synchronizing annotation data in a state in whichpage synchronization is canceled (page non-synchronization mode) willnow be described. Even though the third device 130 sets pagesynchronization to be ‘OFF’ but maintains smart synchronization, thethird device 130 continuously receives annotation information from thefirst device 110. The annotation information may include informationabout an image displayed in a background of the third device 130 whenthe annotation data is input, or may include page informationcorresponding to the image. The third device 130 synchronizes theannotation data, based on the page information. That is, when the firstdevice 110 inserts a particular memo into the seventh page, annotationinformation is generated based on the inserted memo and is thentransmitted to all devices of a system. The second device 120, forexample, which displays the seventh page displayed on the first device110 appropriately displays annotation data, based on the receivedannotation information. However, since the third device 130 displays thethird page, even though annotation data corresponding to the seventhpage is generated, the annotation data is not displayed on the thirddevice 130. When page synchronization of the third device 130 isactivated, i.e., is ‘ON’, both the seventh page and annotation datadisplayed on the first device 110 are displayed on the third device 130.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a presentation data sharing system 800according to another exemplary embodiment. The presentation data sharingsystem 800 includes a host device 810, a clerk device 820, and aparticipant device 830. The host device 810 displays presentation datawith script related thereto. In this case, only a portion of thepresentation data may be converted into images and may then betransmitted to the participant device 830. When an interaction, e.g.,turning pages, is performed by the host device 810, the interaction isdirectly reflected in all participant devices including the participantdevice 830, in real time. Since the scripts are displayed on the hostdevice 810, a speaker who uses the host device 810 may conduct aconference based on the scripts. In this case, if the host device 810has a volume up/down button or may recognize predetermined gestures orvoice recognition, then it is possible to move to a desired page byusing particular speech, e.g., by saying ‘next’. Comments or memos maybe input from the clerk device 820. Annotation information generated bythe clerk device 820 may be transmitted to other devices of thepresentation data sharing system 800 so as to share the annotationinformation.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a host device according to an exemplaryembodiment. Parts of descriptions regarding apparatuses and methodsdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9 to 12 below, which are redundant dueto the above descriptions, are not provided here again. Referring toFIG. 9, a first device 110 includes a data conversion unit 910, aninformation processor 920, a display unit 930, a communication unit 940,and an input interface 950. The data conversion unit 910 convertspresentation data into images. The communication unit 940 transmits theimages to a second device 120. The data conversion unit 910 may convertthe images to a last page of the presentation data, starting from afirst page of the presentation data. The communication unit 940 maytransmit the converted images to the second device 120 according to anorder of completion of the conversion or according to a sequence ofpages included in the presentation data. The display unit 930 displays apredetermined image from among the images converted from thepresentation data. The predetermined image may correspond to the firstpage of the presentation data, may be set by a user, may be apresentation image that is last performed, or an image subsequent to thepresentation image last performed. The information processor 920generates image ID information about the displayed image, and thecommunication unit 940 transmits the image ID information to the seconddevice 120. The second device 120 displays an image corresponding to theimage ID information on a screen of the second device 120 from among theimages.

The input interface 950 receives annotation data about the displayedimage received from a user. The information processor 920 may generateannotation information including information needed for the seconddevice 120 to express annotation data. The display unit 930 displays theannotation data on the displayed image, and the communication unit 940transmits the annotation information to the second device 120.

When the image displayed on the display unit 930 of the first device 110is switched to another image, the information processor 920 generatesimage ID information about the switched image and transmits the image IDinformation to the second device 120. If the received image IDinformation does not correspond to the image displayed on the seconddevice 120, the second device 120 may switch the displayed image thereonto the image indicated by received the image ID information.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a second device 120 according to anexemplary embodiment. Basically, the second device 120 may have the samestructure as that of a host device acting as the first device 110. Inother words, whether a device is the participant device or the hostdevice depends on an operation of the device, not on a structurethereof.

However, any device capable of performing only some of the operationsdescribed above with reference to FIG. 9 may act as the second device120. The second device 120 may include a communication unit 1040 and adisplay unit 1030. The second device 120 may further include an inputinterface 1030.

The communication unit 1040 receives an image, image ID information, andannotation information from the first device 110. The image may beconverted from presentation data by the first device 110. The image IDinformation identifies an image displayed on a screen of the firstdevice 110. The annotation information includes information needed toexpress annotation data on a screen of a second device 120. The displayunit 1030 displays an image from among received images, based on theimage ID information, and displays annotation data on the displayedimage, based on the annotation information.

A case where the second device 120 further includes an input interfaceunit 1050, a data conversion unit 1010, and an information processor1020 may be the same as or similar to the cases described above andparticularly with reference to FIGS. 1, 6, 7, and 9.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method of transmitting informationfor synchronizing presentation data, annotation data, and a displayedpage to a participant device from a host device, according to anexemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 11, the host device converts presentation data intoimages (operation 1110), displays an image from among the images on ascreen thereof, and transmits the image to the second device (operation1120). Then, the host device generates image ID information about thedisplayed image and transmits the image ID information to the seconddevice (operation 1130). Then, when a user inputs an annotation to thedisplayed image (operation 1140), the host device generates annotationinformation and then transmits the annotation information to the seconddevice (operation 1150).

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method of synchronizing a seconddevice with a host device, based on information received from the hostdevice, according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 12, the second device receives images and image IDinformation from the host device (operation 1210). Then, the seconddevice displays an image corresponding to the image ID information fromamong the images (operation 1220). Then, when receiving annotationinformation (operation 1230), annotation data included in the annotationinformation is displayed on the displayed image (operation 1240).

It would be interpreted by one of ordinary skill in the art that theblock diagrams described in the exemplary embodiments conceptuallyindicate a circuit for realizing principles of the present inventiveconcept. Similarly, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in theart that a predetermined flowchart, a flow graph, a state transitiondiagram, and pseudo code may be substantially expressed in acomputer-readable recording medium and indicate various processesexecuted by a computer or a processor, even if the computer or processoris not explicitly shown. Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments may bewritten as computer programs and implemented in general-use digitalcomputers that execute the programs using a computer readable recordingmedium. Examples of the computer readable recording medium includemagnetic storage media (e.g., ROM, floppy disks, hard disks, etc.),optical recording media (e.g., CD-ROMs, or DVDs), etc.

The functions of various elements shown in diagrams may be provided byusing not only hardware that executes suitable software, but also byexclusively using hardware. When the functions are provided by aprocessor, the functions may be provided by a single exclusiveprocessor, a single common processor, or a plurality of individualprocessors, wherein some processors are shared. Also, the terms‘processor’ and ‘controller’ shall not be interpreted to exclusivelyindicate hardware for executing software, and may unlimitedly andimplicitly include digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, read-onlymemory (ROM) for storing software, random access memory (RAM), and anonvolatile storage device.

In the claims, an element expressed as a unit for performing a certainfunction may include a predetermined method of performing the certainfunction, and may include a combination of circuit elements forperforming the certain function, or software in a predetermined formincluding firmware or microcode combined with a suitable circuit forexecuting software for performing the certain function.

In the present specification, ‘an exemplary embodiment’ and othermodified expressions mean that a certain feature, structure, orcharacteristic is included in at least one embodiment. Accordingly, theexpression “an exemplary embodiment” and other modified examples in thepresent specification may not denote the same embodiment.

In the present specification, the expression “at least one of A and B”is used to include a selection of only A, only B, or both A and B.Furthermore, the expression “at least one of A through C” may be used toinclude a section of only A, only B, only C, only A and B, only B and C,or all of A through C. One of ordinary skill in the art would be able toclearly interpret a similar expression with more elements.

While this inventive concept has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the inventive concept as defined by the appended claims. Theexemplary embodiments should be considered in a descriptive sense onlyand not for purposes of limitation. Therefore, the scope of theinventive concept is defined not by the detailed description but by theappended claims, and all differences within the scope will be construedas being included in the present inventive concept.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of annotating an image corresponding toa web page using an application executable by an electronic device, theweb page including a first portion and a second portion, the methodcomprising: receiving, through a network by using the application, datafor the web page; displaying, by using the application, the firstportion of the web page based at least on the received data on a displayof the electronic device while the second portion of the web page is notdisplayed on the display; generating, by using the application, theimage corresponding to the web page including the first portion and thesecond portion while the second portion of the web page is not displayedon the display; storing, by using the application, the imagecorresponding to the web page including the first portion and the secondportion while the second portion of the web page is not displayed on thedisplay; displaying, by using the application, a first portion of theimage corresponding to the first portion of the web page on the display;based at least on a selection of an annotation option, receiving, byusing the application, a first pen input for an annotation on thedisplayed first portion of the image; based at least on the first peninput, displaying, by using the application, an annotation over thedisplayed first portion of the image; based at least on the firstportion of the image being moved on the display, displaying, by usingthe application, a second portion of the image corresponding to thesecond portion of the web page on the display; based at least on aselection of a highlight option, receiving, by using the application, asecond pen input for a highlight on the displayed second portion of theimage; based at least on the second pen input, displaying, by using theapplication, the highlight over the displayed second portion of theimage; storing, by using the application, a first image file that isbased at least on the annotation, the highlight, and the first andsecond portions of the image corresponding to the web page in a storageof the electronic device; and storing a second image file including theannotation and the highlight, but not the first and second portions ofthe image corresponding to the web page in the storage of the device. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the storing of the first image filecomprises combining the annotation, the highlight, and the first andsecond portions of the image into the first image file.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the second image file comprises a transparentbackground.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending thefirst image file to an external device.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the external device comprises a cloud server.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: based at least on the selection of thehighlight option, receiving, by using the application, a finger inputfor another highlight on the displayed second portion of the image; andbased at least on the finger input, displaying, by using theapplication, the other highlight over the displayed second portion ofthe image, wherein the first image file being stored by using theapplication in the storage of the electronic device is further based onthe other highlight.
 7. An electronic device for annotating an imagecorresponding to a web page using an application executable by theelectronic device, the web page including a first portion and a secondportion, the electronic device comprising: a memory storinginstructions; and a processor configured to execute the instructions toat least: control to receive, through a network by using theapplication, data for the web page; control to provide, by using theapplication, the first portion of the web page based at least on thereceived data on a display of the electronic device while the secondportion of the web page is not provided on the display; control togenerate, by using the application, the image corresponding to the webpage including the first portion and the second portion while the secondportion of the web page is not provided on the display; control tostore, by using the application, the image corresponding to the web pageincluding the first portion and the second portion while the secondportion of the web page is not displayed on the display; control toprovide, by using the application, a first portion of the imagecorresponding to the first portion of the web page on the display; basedat least on a selection of an annotation option, control to receive, byusing the application, a first pen input for an annotation on theprovided first portion of the image; based at least on the first peninput, control to provide, by using the application, an annotation overthe provided first portion of the image on the display; based at leaston the first portion of the image being moved on the display, control toprovide, by using the application, a second portion of the imagecorresponding to the second portion of the web page on the display;based at least on a selection of a highlight option, control to receive,by using the application, a second pen input for a highlight on theprovide second portion of the image; based at least on the second peninput, control to provide, by using the application, a highlight overthe provided second portion of the image on the display; control tostore, by using the application, a first image file that is based atleast on the annotation, the highlight, and the first and secondportions of the image corresponding to the web page in a storage of theelectronic device; and control to store, by using the application, asecond image file including the annotation and the highlight, but notthe first and second portions of the image corresponding to the web pagein the storage of the device.
 8. The electronic device of claim 7,wherein the controlling to store the first image file comprisescontrolling to combine the annotation, the highlight, and the first andsecond portions of the image into the first image file.
 9. Theelectronic device of claim 7, wherein the second image file furthercomprises a transparent background.
 10. The electronic device of claim7, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructionsfurther to send the first image file to an external device.
 11. Theelectronic device of claim 10, wherein the external device comprises acloud server.
 12. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein theprocessor is configured to execute the instructions further to: based atleast on the selection of the highlight option, control to receive, byusing the application, a finger input for another highlight on thedisplayed second portion of the image; and based at least on the fingerinput, control to provide, by using the application, the other highlightover the provided second portion of the image, wherein the first imagefile being stored by using the application in the storage of theelectronic device is further based on the other highlight.
 13. Theelectronic device of claim 7, wherein the second pen input is receivedby using the application further based on a selection of a color for thehighlight, wherein the highlight is provided in the selected color overthe displayed second portion of the image.
 14. A non-transitory computerreadable recording medium having recorded therein an applicationexecutable by a processor of an electronic device to cause the processorto at least: control to receive, through a network by using theapplication, data for a web page including a first portion and a secondportion; control to provide, by using the application, the first portionof the web page based at least on the received data on a display of theelectronic device while the second portion of the web page is notprovided on the display; control to generate, by using the application,an image corresponding to the web page including the first portion andthe second portion while the second portion of the web page is notprovided on the display; control to store, by using the application, theimage corresponding to the web page including the first portion and thesecond portion while the second portion of the web page is not displayedon the display; control to provide, by using the application, a firstportion of the image corresponding to the first portion of the web pageon the display; based at least on a selection of an annotation option,control to receive, by using the application, a first pen input for anannotation on the provided first portion of the image; based at least onthe first pen input, control to provide, by using the application, anannotation over the provided first portion of the image on the display;based at least on the first portion of the image being moved on thedisplay, control to provide, by using the application, a second portionof the image corresponding to the second portion of the web page on thedisplay; based at least on a selection of a highlight option, control toreceive, by using the application, a second pen input for a highlight onthe provide second portion of the image; based at least on the secondpen input, control to provide, by using the application, a highlightover the provided second portion of the image on the display; control tostore, by using the application, a first image file that is based atleast on the annotation, the highlight, and the first and secondportions of the image corresponding to the web page in a storage of theelectronic device; and control to store, by using the application, asecond image file including the annotation and the highlight, but notthe first and second portions of the image corresponding to the web pagein the storage of the device.
 15. The non-transitory computer readablerecording medium of claim 14, wherein the controlling to store the firstimage file comprises controlling to combine the annotation, thehighlight, and the first and second portions of the image into the firstimage file.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable recording medium ofclaim 14, wherein the second image file further comprises a transparentbackground.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable recording medium ofclaim 14, wherein the first pen input and the second pen input eachcomprise at least one of an underline, a diagram, a chart, ahandwriting, and a memo.
 18. The non-transitory computer readablerecording medium of claim 14, wherein the application causes theprocessor further to control to send the first image file to an externaldevice.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable recording medium ofclaim 14, wherein the application causes the processor further to: basedat least on the selection of the highlight option, control to receive,by using the application, a finger input for another highlight on thedisplayed second portion of the image; and based at least on the fingerinput, control to provide, by using the application, the other highlightover the provided second portion of the image, wherein the first imagefile being stored by using the application in the storage of theelectronic device is further based on the other highlight.
 20. Anon-transitory computer readable recording medium having recordedtherein an application executable by a processor of an electronic deviceto cause the processor to at least: control to provide, by using theapplication, a first portion of a web page on a display of theelectronic device while a second portion of the web page is not providedon the display; control to generate, by using the application, an imagecorresponding to the web page including the first portion and the secondportion while the second portion of the web page is not provided on thedisplay; control to provide, by using the application, a first portionof the image corresponding to the first portion of the web page on thedisplay; based at least on a selection of an annotation option, controlto receive, by using the application, a first pen input for anannotation on the provided first portion of the image; based at least onthe first pen input, control to provide, by using the application, anannotation over the provided first portion of the image on the display;based at least on the first portion of the image being moved on thedisplay, control to provide, by using the application, a second portionof the image corresponding to the second portion of the web page on thedisplay; based at least on a selection of a highlight option, control toreceive, by using the application, a second pen input for a highlight onthe provide second portion of the image; based at least on the secondpen input, control to provide, by using the application, a highlightover the provided second portion of the image on the display; control tostore, by using the application, a first image file that is based atleast on the annotation, the highlight, and the first and secondportions of the image corresponding to the web page in a storage of theelectronic device; and control to store, by using the application, asecond image file including the annotation and the highlight, but notthe first and second portions of the image corresponding to the web pagein the storage of the device.
 21. The non-transitory computer readablerecording medium of claim 20, wherein the controlling to store the firstimage file comprises controlling to combine the annotation, thehighlight, and the first and second portions of the image into the firstimage file.
 22. The non-transitory computer readable recording medium ofclaim 20, wherein the second image file further comprises a transparentbackground.
 23. The non-transitory computer readable recording medium ofclaim 20, wherein the first pen input and the second pen input eachcomprise at least one of an underline, a diagram, a chart, ahandwritten, and a memo.
 24. The non-transitory computer readablerecording medium of claim 20, wherein the application causes theprocessor further to control to send the first image file to an externaldevice.
 25. The non-transitory computer readable recording medium ofclaim 24, wherein the external device comprises a cloud server.
 26. Thenon-transitory computer readable recording medium of claim 20, whereinthe application causes the processor further to: based at least on theselection of the highlight option, control to receive, by using theapplication, a finger input for another highlight on the displayedsecond portion of the image; and based at least on the finger input,control to provide, by using the application, the other highlight overthe provided second portion of the image, wherein the first image filebeing stored by using the application in the storage of the electronicdevice is further based on the other highlight.